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1.26.2023

Day 26: The Joy of Music with Ben Rector

I am not much of a concert-goer except for one very obvious exception:


If you're not familiar with him, the song you are most likely to know is his song "Brand New." It exploded on the charts and has been by far his biggest hit. 

Nashville's Exit/In in May, 2011, is where it all started for me. I was a big Matt Wertz fan, so my friend Jill and I picked up and went down to Nashville to see one of Matt's shows at Exit/In. We stayed in a super sketchy motel where we barricaded the door before we went to bed that night, but otherwise we spent the weekend exploring Nashville's West End and generally having a good time. Ben happened to open for Matt at that show and the first song I ever remember hearing of Ben's was "She Is." 

I was hooked.

Jill and me with Ben in 2016
From there, we saw him in October 2013, playing at Bogart's in Cincinnati. Tyrone Wells opened for him and tickets were all of $15. It was, without question, the best concert I've ever been to, Ben's or otherwise. I was sicker than a dog, and we bought the tickets on a lark just a day or two before the show. Jill had to do some convincing, but I'm glad she did. I was in a bit of fog from not feeling great, but Jill, ever the trooper, drove us down to Cincy, hustled us toward the front row, and man - what.a.show. It was worth the 2+ hour drive and totally worth sucking it up and dealing with not feeling great. 

After that, it was a bit of a dry spell before we saw him again. Three years later, in 2016, we finally saw him at the Newport Music Hall in Columbus. We splurged and bought VIP tickets, which got us into a pre-show acoustic performance, Q&A segment (I asked him a question about a very strange set of lyrics in his song "The Beat." His answer was underwhelming), a photo with Ben, and some killer cookies from Insomnia Cookies. Worth every penny. Also practically front row for that one. (Jill is a big fan of the front row.)

Next we saw him for free in Mason, Ohio, at a Fourth of July festival in 2017. We saw him again in September 2018 at Newport Music Hall, this time with one of his best buds, Cody Fry, opening for him. Cody is a phenomenal artist in his own right (as I will soon explain), so the two of them together on stage is pure magic.

Ben came back to Columbus last May - if you're keeping track, that's concert #6 for us! - and, of course, we couldn't miss it. When we've gone to previous shows, we've usually splurged and bought VIP tickets specifically so we could make sure we got in early and got a good spot. They didn't offer a VIP option at this show, so we decided to just make sure we got there early enough to get in line. Like good little concert-goers, we got downtown early, parked, and headed for the line. 

Except there was no line. 

There wasn't a soul around at the venue, and we seriously wondered for a split second if they had cancelled the show or if we were even at the right venue. Surely we are not the first people to get here?

Yep, we most certainly were the first ones there. We stood at the front of the line marveling at the fact that the 40-something-year-old and the almost-40-something-year-old were the first two in line. What happened to all these young college kids? Here we were acting like old fuddy-duddies, planning our game plan for bringing Chick-fil-A with us to eat while we waited and debating the merits of our footwear for the evening (that's a long time to stand, so wear your practical shoes, girls!).

Again, another fabulous show. He brought David Besonen, a killer saxophone player, on tour with him. Ben literally plucked the guy straight off social media and asked David if he wanted to come tour with the band. The kid was mind-blowing on the saxophone. 

And then there was last night.

A few months ago, Ben announced he and Cody would be doing a special concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, with the National Symphony Orchestra. 

My head was already exploding with imagining how epic that show was going to be. Cody had recently been working on a series of songs from his "Symphony Sessions," where he had taken some of his songs,  some of Ben's, and the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" and did complete orchestral arrangements for them. 

I had access to the pre-sale ticket code and soon as that window opened up, you better believe I was dashing to that website. 

And as it turns out, so did the rest of the world. The pre-sale site crashed. I was frantically refreshing multiple browsers on both my laptop and my phone, desperately hoping I could score tickets. All I got were pages saying I was 600th-something in line, or 300th-something in line. I really was starting to think I would not get tickets.

Then through some act of God, the page suddenly loaded and I got in.

I landed fourth row tickets. 


I couldn't believe it.

(The only downside was that this would be the first show I would see without Jill, which had me bummed. She was already committed elsewhere and wouldn't be able to make it.)

So, off I went to the Kennedy Center last night with my niece and sorority sister (who happens to live in DC conveniently enough and let us crash at her place) in tow.

Ben, Cody, and the symphony didn't even make it through the second song before I was getting teary. 

To hear these songs coupled with the orchestra was so poignant, powerful, and moving. 

Thus the tears. 

It was absolutely amazing. 

Ben and Cody, I know you'll never read this blog, but watching the two of you perform is pure magic. You genuinely marvel at the fact that people pay to come see you perform, as if this notion continually takes you by surprise. It shouldn't. You are wildly talented, and to watch you exercise those gifts is a sight and sound to behold. It is obvious the delight you take in making music, music that moves people and their emotions. And seeing you two perform accompanied by the symphony?

That's what the joy of music looks and sounds like.  

 

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If you want my recommendations on some of their music, here are my top picks:

Ben
Cody

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